BEARS 6-0, CARDS GIVE IT AWAY

Sporting events have made me vomit, cry and break things. Tonight I add to the list chest pain. My heart is still racing, audible and palpable. I’ve no idea when I will fall asleep. Probably much like Dennis Green. Hard to concentrate, so here’s some random Bears thoughts…

Like the Bears, I never thought they were out of it. I’ve seen the D come through so many times last year. And when they were finally needed in 2006 to win one, Urlacher proved why he is the best defensive player in the NFL.

Unofficially, Urlacher finishes with 11 tackles, 8 assists and 1 gigantic forced fumble on Edgerrin James. As for James, he’ll have to enjoy his bank statements because he is running behind an offensive line that is simply offensive. He had 36 carries for 55 yards. On his long run of 12 he had to do it all himself.

On offense the Bears were pathetic. In total, 6 turnovers. Rex was horrible, Muhammad and others dropped passes and for a “running” team they sure don’t put a lot of emphasis on it. Sure they were down 2 scores. But it was the 1st quarter. They totally abandoned the run and I wonder why. And Benson got only 1 carry. Which tells me he still isn’t ready to protect on passing downs like Thomas Jones does.

I do wonder why Thomas Jones seems a step slower and doesn’t really seem as if he has any breakaway speed. There were many carries this year I had hoped he would take it outside and turn it on–a few of those were tonight–and he doesn’t seem to be able to do it.

Anquan Boldin is worth any amount of money he wants. He is a man. In 2003 he caught over 100 balls. Blows out his knee in 2004. 2005 catches over 100 balls. You’d never know he blew out a knee. He caught 12 passes for 136 and a TD tonight.

It would have been so interesting to see Grossman take the field for that final drive to try and win it for the Bears if Hester did not score on the punt return. I can only imagine if they lost and he failed to lead a scoring drive on the last series. Chicagoans would be calling for Griese.

I also imagine how many people in Chicago will wake up and spit out their coffee when they see that the Bears won the game. And has there ever been a better time for a bye week?

And my final thought, Madden has his Brett Favre and apparently Tony Kornheiser has his guy–Matt Leinart. I could feel the man crush through the screen. I dig Tirico and I tolerate Theismann, but Kornheiser is brutal. And you can tell Theismann cares nothing for him.

Posted by admin on Monday, October 16, 2006 at 11:33 pm Filed under Bears, NFL · Tagged with

Big D

God bless you, Zoner! I can always count on you. 1:30am and still not close to sleeping. Wow!

My thoughts:
Grossman was bad, and that is being kind.
Urlacher is good, and that is not nearly kind enough.
Three TD’s and none from the offense…that’s offensive!

http://completesports.blogspot.com twins15

I don’t blame anyone for having a mancrush on Leinart at this point… he played a very, very solid game in his 2nd start as a rookie against the best defense in the NFL, and should have come out with a win. I was extremely impressed by Leinart.

Schmidty

Hate to rub it in, Zoner, but I’m checking in from AZ right now…just got back from post-game tailgating. UNBELIEVEABLE game!! Plus, I think there were as many Bears fans here as Cardinals ones. Just a fantastic atmosphere!

PV

The idea that Thomas Jones is playing because he is better at pass-blocking is ridiculous. He’s not that good at it – he’s blown blocks on multiple occasions this year. But mostly I am tired of him dancing when he gets the ball and not MOVING FORWARD, which, last time I checked, is the goal of the game we call football. He should not be in on any 3rd-and-short’s anymore, playing the way he is.

That’s kind of off-topic, but since you mentioned him.

On-topic: a big thanks to Dennis Green–and how great was it to see that look on his face after they blew the game?–for playing not to win, and more to assuage his superstar RB who had been campaigning for more carries, especially in the 4th. 36 carries for 55 yards is laughable. The Cards had success with their spread passing formations, on both their touchdowns they ended up with a WR matched on a LB, and even Briggs and Urlacher couldn’t make thosee plays, but didn’t stick with it the 2nd half. Then they essentially gave up the last 2 plays before the FG, after Leinart had passed them down the field. Why not try to get closer?

I agree with you on Jones, even the pass-blocking. It may be ridiculous but it also may be how they think. So why isn’t Benson in there more?

I love Thomas Jones but he needs to have a big game after the bye.

Leinart played well and throws a real nice ball. I was shocked as any when he fell to 10th.

Did anyone see Denny Green’s tirade? Mint.

And the Bears crowd was definitely loud. I saw you on TV Schmidty! Just kidding.

Schmidty

You didn’t see me on TV…the cameras don’t go up to the $10 seats.
I found it interesting that Benson was in on several passing downs as the lone back…he didn’t do a bad job of protection. And I gotta say that everyone in our section called the Card’s “play not to lose” philosophy. Keep giving it to James for one yard. Dennis Green is the worst clock manager ever. Leinart bailed them out several times with quick third-down strikes for nine yards and a first down, but the luck ran out near the end. The other thing I didn’t agree with on the Bears part is they dropped back into prevent on that last drive, allowing Leinart the time to get the yards he needed underneath the defense. I thought they needed to keep the pressure on Leinart, which they DID on the last couple of plays to keep them outside of a 40-yard field goal.

http://zonersports.com The Zoner

Maybe I am wrong about Benson and pass protection, although I know Lovie touched on it earlier this year.

Perhaps Lovie is just trying to give TJ every opportunity to stay on the field and make his case.

But after 4 picks last night, think the Bears will re-emphasize the run? So TJ better get going…

http://thearmchairquarterback.blogspot.com/ Mike (The Armchair QB)

This could be a good thing for the Bears if they don’t get too caught up in the hysteria of the win. They played terrible on offense and if they (and by they I mean Grossman)don’t admit that to themselves and learn from it then they are in trouble come playoff time. Grossman has to learn that the bomb is not there on every play.